Always With Me
by Jasupah's Panties
Summary: Terminal illnesses, hopeless love, and a feeling of being too late. Gumi x Kaito- because why not? It's my second OTP sooooo.


Another Autumn was making its way around, slowly hinting its arrival by colouring the leaves with its chilly breezes and crisp evenings. Another Autumn in confinement, being bound to one, pristine, white room, and only one window in that room. A window to the outside world, a window to freedom.

Whenever one would gaze out that glass box, they'd be reminded of all of the privileges that they were so wrongfully deprived of. If one were on the other side of that window, an unconscious feeling of pity would wash over their bodies, making them walk off with their heads hanging low. And as those passer-bys left in melancholy, the unfortunate patients that were held captive inside wept silent tears of knowledge. The knowledge of knowing the fate that was held inside of the window.

Among those saddened prisoners of deprivation was a girl. A simple, green-haired girl who had fallen victim to a terminal illness that would soon take her waking life away. She's known to her friends as Gumi, and to her brother, Megumi. Loved by many, but faithfully treasured by only a select few, the poor girl was in the wrath of that incurable sickness, being slowly killed.

Many of her fellow students at school had taken notice to her sudden absence, but only one held the truth and reasoning to it. The only one of Gumi's friends that had been with her throughout all of the years. Her blue-eyed best friend, Kaito, the one that held a big enough capacity of hope for the both of them.

There never was a day that Kaito failed to visit his sickly friend, nor was he ever late to see her. Right when the clock struck 3, he'd prance into Gumi's medical prison, both hands full with bowls of gourmet ice cream from the parlour downtown. He had Gumi's favourite committed to memory, mint with chocolate shavings.

As part of his daily routine, the blue-haired fellow waltzed into Gumi's room one day, room number 305, with his smile as big as the world itself. The green-haired maiden lay motionless on her bed, her head propped by those stiffened pillows that hospitals always provided to their patients. As Kaito danced over to the sickly girl, he realized that the covers were thrown off of her pale body, and lay strewn at her bare feet. She wasn't in her usual uniform, a dull, light green hospital gown, but instead was dressed in a simple, washed-out, blue shift dress with small, white polka-dots scattered all over it. Kaito knew this was Gumi's favourite dress, the one that she would wear whenever she possibly could, and shot her a questioning look, to which she replied with a weak smile.

"Hey! You're looking especially beautiful today," Kaito complimented, gently grabbing Gumi's hand, "Is there something going on today? You know...anything significant that you're all dolled up for? Maybe a hospital dance or something?" His smile remained as Gumi let out a faint giggle, wanly squeezing his hand back. Her laughter felt to him like a sad angel's cry.

"No...I was just...just hoping we could go outside...today," she spoke out with her soothing, soft voice, "It's nice...out! And I...I haven't been out of...this room in so...so long! Please? Please...Kaito?" She turned her head to face Kaito's body and shifted her eyes to his, a pleading look in them.

"As if I could ever refuse you!" he replied, beaming at the thought of Gumi finally getting some fresh air. He could still tell that she was far too weak to walk, so to help her out, he lifted Gumi into his arms. It broke his heart to feel her next-to-nothing weight on him, it was like carrying a child. Her legs hung limply from Kaito's grasp, while her arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders. He could feel her cold, bony fingers lay across the back of his neck. The ice cream didn't matter anymore, his main priority now was to give Gumi her much needed freedom.

He brought her to the small courtyard in the back of the hospital, setting her frail body down onto the bench lightly. She managed to keep herself propped up, and gestured at the empty spot next to her for him to take a seat with a few pats of her hand. "Come on...take a seat!" she urged with a smile and shining eyes. Kaito nodded and plopped down next to the greenette, pulling her closely to him unconsciously.

"Eh...? What...?" Gumi began to question weakly, not struggling against the sudden pull.

"Oh...! I, uhm, I thought that you'd be cold! So...I'm...I'm sharing body heat!" Kaito quickly cut her off, making up an excuse to be closer to her. He wasn't sure when Gumi would pass on, or if this would be their last visit together, he wanted to savour the moment.

"Oh...so we're sharing...things now?" she cooed in response, leaning into her ice cream loving best friend, "Then...Then there's been something...on my mind...lately."

"Hm? Tell me about it, I'm all ears!" he said, turning to face Gumi while cupping his ear for emphasis.

Gumi let out a small sigh and placed her petite hands in her lap. "Kaito...it was always certain...that this...this sickness would befall me...it...it wasn't until recently that...that it'd gotten unbearable. My illness...it's kept me from doing...doing many things."

"Is it the reason why you weren't in any school sports, or...or plays, and even band?"

"Exaca..tactly! It's also why I've...chosen to be...be single all of my...life. Or what you could...call a life," she let out a pained chuckle, "But...I've known that you...you've had a crush on me since...the start. That's why...I rejected you...at first, and then...became friends with you."

Kaito's heart sank all the way to his feet. All of these years he was under the impression that Gumi genuinely didn't like him like that, but she had only refused because of her cursed sickness. "Oh, I understand now. It must've been hard living all that time without any romance...but, to tell you the truth," Kaito began, placing a hand ontop of Gumi's again, "I've lived without love too, because I've been waiting for you."

"That's...incredibly sweet, but...but my time is due...to run out at any moment...so that's why I'm...I'm telling you all of this. I...I've liked you too...but I refused to get close...and crush the future...we could've had. I've dreamt...of being healthy...healthy and with you," Gumi confessed, choking a bit on her words. A few tears fell from her porcelain face before Kaito wiped off the rest with his wrist. He embraced her warmly, her weak body engulfed by his love. She let her tears flow endlessly and silently, relaxing into Kaito's grasp.

"You're crying diamonds," he soothed her, placing his chin intop of Gumi's green hair, "It's okay. I won't live forever either, hell! I probably won't even look at another girl again, they'd just pale in comparison to you. Never in my days will I not think of you and what a beautiful angel you'll make, though it's hard to believe that you're not already one."

A few of his own tears were shed, but he swiftly wiped them away before leaning his head down to Gumi's cheek. His lips placed a gentle kiss on it, relishing the moment. In response, Gumi shyly turned her head to face Kaito, making both of their lips meet in a bittersweet rendezvous. Kaito pulled Gumi a little bit closer, making their bodies touch. His hand cupped her cheek as the sweet taste of her tongue invaded his mouth.

In an instance, as if waking up from a dream, Gumi pulled herself away, eyes darting down to her naked toes. "I...I don't want to leave...you to love a...a dead girl," Gumi laughed dryly, her face not cracking into a smile. Her eyes were beginning to look dull and her chest was rising slower then it should be. "I...I can't," she breathed out heavily, her body starting to droop.

"Please don't worry yourself over it. I'll be fine. I mean, sure I'll be lonely, but you'll only be a pray away. Love is a strong thing, Gumi," he reassured her, bringing her body back into a melancholic embrace.

"I...I love...love...love," her voice trailed off in the wind, leaving only the sound of rustling leaves being pushed around to fill the silence. Kaito had felt her placid body go limper and limper, and had seen the last bit of her colour disappear along with her words. Her anguished being finally set free from the world.

With watery eyes, Kaito gently lifted his best friend, cradling her close to his chest, and began to walk back to the prison that held her captive for so long. The coldness of her body seeped into his as his face glistened with warm tears, a new one forming with each step he took.

"I love you too," he whispered.


End file.
